System and method for providing content over a television network

ABSTRACT

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. .sctn.1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/335,288, filed Jan. 19, 2006, entitled “Systemand Method for Providing Content Over a Television Network”. Thecontents of each of the foregoing is/are hereby incorporated byreference into this application as if set forth herein in full.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to the provision content over atelevision network.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Television services such as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), cabletelevision service, or satellite television service are provided byservice providers with whom customers establish an account for theservice. A large number of television channels are delivered to acustomer premise device, such a set top box, over a television networkestablished by the service provider. Such networks operate inconjunction with the Internet and have access to various contentproviders, such as providers of Internet access, financial information,weather information, sports information, etc. IPTV is capable ofdelivering interactive television services to customers from thesevarious content providers, also referred to herein as “partners” of theservice provider. Individual customers typically establish separateaccounts with certain of these content providers to obtain customerspecific information. Often, customers can specify the content they wishto receive and the format therefor. For example, information aboutparticular stocks or an investment portfolio, sports information aboutcertain teams, photo albums created by the customer with the contentprovider via the web, product ordering, etc. Often, customers arerequired to log in for each such service and provide other personalinformation such as credit cards, telephone numbers, etc.

In the television environment, a limited capability exists for thecustomers to authenticate customer identity for each such service. Theform factor of current television systems, however, does not supportcustomer data entry via remote control devices. Thus, difficultiesassociated with the input of customer identities, such as a log-on,password, and credit card information can become a barrier to adaptingmultiple interactive television applications and/or to exploiting theinteractive television potential.

Thus, there is a need for an improved system and method for providingcontent over a television network from content providers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For detailed understanding of the present invention, references shouldbe made to the following detailed description of an exemplaryembodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich like elements have been given like numerals, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of an exemplary network for providingtelevision services according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary screen shot that shows a bar that provides iconsthat might be clicked to obtain a particular content over the network ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary screen shot that appears when a channel specificto a content provider is clicked on a television;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary system architecture that may be utilized toimplement the delivery of contents from multiple content providers byautomatically associating multiple customer accounts according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method according to one aspectof the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions, when executed, maycause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In view of the above, the present invention through one or more of itsvarious aspects and/or embodiments is presented to provide one or moreadvantages, such as those noted below.

The present disclosure, in one aspect, provides a method for deliveringcontent over a television network that includes receiving an input thatcorresponds to a master account, associating the master account with atleast one additional account that relates to provision of content from acontent provider and providing the content over the television network.In another aspect, the disclosure provides a computer program whichincludes instructions that may be executed by a computer, wherein thecomputer program contains an instruction to receive an input relating toa master account for provision of a television service, an instructionto associate the master account with at least one additional accountthat relates to provision of content from a content provider and aninstruction to provide the television service and the content from thecontent provider over a television network. The present disclosure, yetin another aspect, provides a system for providing content over atelevision network. The system includes a database that stores a masteraccount and at least one additional account relating to the provision ofcontent from a content provider. The server executes instructionscontained in a computer program that includes an instruction toassociate the master account with the at least one additional accountand an instruction to provide the content from the content provider overa television network.

The present disclosure, in an another aspect, provides a system andmethod that automatically associates a first or master account (whichmay be a television account) of a customer relating to the provision ofa television service with one or more customer accounts established forservices from third party or other content providers, and delivers thetelevision service and the contents from such content providers over atelevision network. In one aspect, the system provides such contentswithout requiring the customer to identify or input customer accounts,when the customer requests such services via the television. The system,in another aspect, provides a seamless access to multiple TVapplications without a log-in by the customer. In another aspect, thesystem provides a backend solution, transparent to the customer, thatlinks the master account, such as the customer television account, withthe customer accounts in other domains, such as broadband internetservice, voice service including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), awireless service, and other third party services, and can pass alongaccount information, upon receiving an input, such as a one touchcustomer approval input to the third parties. For the purpose of thisdisclosure, the term “content” is used in a broad sense to mean anyinformation provided over a network, including video, voice and data.The term “television service” means a content provided over anytelevision network The term “master account” means any account oridentifier that is associated with the provision of a content. A masteraccount may be an account set up to provide a television service to acustomer. The master account may be associated with sub-accounts. Forexample, two accounts for a customer may relate to or be associated witha master or primary account, for example, one for each set top box,wherein each sub-account may receive the same or different content inresponse to an input for each subaccount.

In another aspect, the present disclosure enables a customer to orderproducts or services via a single click on a television icon using themaster account information passed along to the selected vendors. Inanother aspect, the present disclosure provides an interactivetelevision service method that includes storing a master accountrelating to the provision of a television service (a televisionaccount), storing one or more accounts of the customer that correspondto content provided by third parties or partners, and automaticallyassociating the master account with the partner accounts when thecustomer requests such contents via a television and providing access tosuch third party content over the television. The method may send avideo content in the form of a viewable bar to the television thatincludes one or more icons, such as “Go interactive,” which may beclicked by the customer via a remote control to request a contentprovided pursuant to a particular account. The partner content may bepersonalized by the customer. For example, it may include personalizedfinancial information, personal sports information, photo albums createdby the customer over the Internet that resides with a content providerand interactive game service that enables the customer to play gameswith others over the television, etc.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a computer programembedded in a computer readable medium that is executable by a processoror server. The computer program includes an instruction to automaticallyassociate or correlate a master or first account with one or moreadditional accounts that relate to the provision of content by contentproviders, and an instruction that delivers to a customer device orprovides access via the customer device to the contents from contentproviders upon receiving an input from the customer. The input may beinitiated by a click on a television that sends a request via the settop box.

The present disclosure, in another aspect, provides a system thatincludes a database that stores customer information, including a masteror television account and at least one customer account relating to a TVapplication (content) provided by a content provider (partner). Thesystem further includes a server that executes instructions contained ina computer program. The computer program includes an instruction toautomatically associate the master account with the partner accountsupon receiving an input from a customer device and instructions toprovide the customer the television service and access to the contentsfrom the partners.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a television network whichmay be an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network, a cabletelevision network or a satellite television network. The networkincludes a backbone (or network) that includes a server and a customerdatabase. The backbone is coupled to each of the partner systems. Thenetwork provides television services that includes a number of channelsprovided to each subscriber or customers and may provide additionalchannels that provide content specific to the customers, each suchchannel may have an associated account with the service provider or athird party partner. When a customer provides an input such as byclicking on a “Go Interactive” icon on the television screen or aselected button on a remote control, the STB sends a message to theservers in the backbone, which automatically associates the masteraccount with the partner accounts and provides content to a customerdevice over the television network.

FIG. 1 shows a high level functional diagram of a network 100 forproviding IPTV services according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The network 100 is shown to include a backbone 110 that maybe coupled to the Internet 140 via one or more routers, such as a router112. The backbone also may include a variety of servers, routers andtransport links. The backbone 110 is shown coupled to a live televisioncontent provider 114, that may include multiple television channels,such as commonly delivered over television networks. The backbone 110also is shown to include Video-on-Demand (VOD) servers 116 that provideVideo-on-Demand to customers. The backbone 114 is shown coupled via aDigital Subscriber Line (DSL) to a customer gateway, such as a modem130, which may be coupled to a set-top-box (STB) 132 that is connectedto a television (TV) 134. The STB may act as a control interface for theTV 134 and may be accessed by remote control 138.

Alternatively, the transmission of the television services and othercontents may be delivered to the STB 132 via a satellite device 136 overa link 137. The network 100 is further shown coupled to systems of anumber of content providers, (also referred herein as partners) over theInternet 140. For example, the backbone 110 is shown coupled to aninternet service provider “Yahoo” 150 via routers 152 and 154, and alink 153; a financial content provider 156 via routers 158 and 160, anda link 159; a photo content provider 162 that provides photo albumsstored by the customer over the internet via routers 164 and 166, and alink 165. Similarly, the backbone 110 may be coupled to or have accessto any other partner content provider (generally designated by number145), such as an interactive gaming service that enables a customer toplay games against other players via a television, and a gaming servicethat enables a customer to bet online and settle accounts. The network100 also may provide access to a variety of other servers, such asmultimedia services 170, data centers that provide billing services,etc.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the backbone network 110 includes anauto-account association system 180 that includes one or more servers182, a database 184 that stores customer information and a set ofcomputer programs 186 which contains instructions that are executed bythe server 182 to perform the methods and functions described herein.The customer information stored in the database 184 may include a masteraccount, such as the television account, for the customer that isassigned by the IPTV service provider. The master account may be an IPaddress, an identifier associated with the STB 132, or any othersuitable identifier. In addition, the database 182 stores customeraccount numbers or identifiers that the customer has set up with partnercontent providers. In addition, the customer information may includeaccount numbers for other relevant domains, such as broadband and voice,including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), credit card numbers thatmay be charged for interactive activity by the customer, such as forbuying merchandise, downloading videos, settling accounts, etc. Acustomer may set up accounts with the partners and provide to thetelevision service providers for entry into the database 184 or mayenter via the web such information into the database 184. Additionally,customers may predefine or set up preferences for each of the partneraccounts. For example, the customer may specify or create a home pagewith the financial service provider 160 that is specific to thecustomer, which may include information of certain stocks and investmentportfolio information of the customer. Similarly, the sports informationmay specify preferences such as statistics or other information aboutcertain teams or a request for receiving news about a particular team.In general, each account may have personalized content that the partneror content provider is set up to deliver to the customer.

In one aspect, when a customer turns on a television, the backbonenetwork 110 provides an on-screen indication or icon, such as “gointeractive,” if the customer clicks on “go-interactive,” the STB sendsa signal to the system 180, which automatically correlates or associatesthe master account with the partner accounts. For example, assume thecustomer has an account for an on-line service, such as “Yahoo” on-lineservice, which account already is stored in the database 184. The system180 automatically associates the master account with the Yahoo accountand may deliver video indication on the television that identifiespersonalized on-line services for that customer.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary television screen shot that shows weather 202,finance 204, and sports 206 as examples of services in the formsometimes referred to as an LBar that are associated with the customer'sYahoo account. The customer may simply click any of these icons andreceive the corresponding personalized content.

In another aspect, the IPTV system 100 may utilize a dedicated channelfor a particular partner service. For example, channel #302 may bereserved for Yahoo, channel #303 for interactive sports information,channel #304 for financial information, #305 interactive games, etc. Insuch a case, when the customer clicks on a particular channel, forexample, channel #305, the system 180 automatically associates themaster account with the appropriate partner account, retrieves theinformation from the partner system and delivers it to the customer STB132. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary television screen shot that is displayedwhen a channel that corresponds an account with a content provider isclicked, such as a photo channel

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary system architecture that may be utilized toimplement the methods of the present disclosure. A user 402, within ahome or other customer premise, is shown watching a television to whicha set top box (STB) 404 is coupled. The user 402 may execute a clientapplication at customer premises, such as a home or office, associatedwith the user 402. The set top box 404 selects a channel or an icon inaccordance with the user input, and if the channel or icon selectionindicates that the user desires to access interactive television (ITV),maps the channel to a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) application uniformresource locator (URL). In response, a terminal server controller 406creates a terminal server session within a terminal server 408. An RDPApplication Launcher 410 associated with the terminal server 408launches any of several RDP applications, including a browser thattransmits a product ID to a target URL via a hypertext transfer protocol(HTTP) message. In general, an RDP Application enables applications runon a remote application server and display on a TV using remote desk topprotocol. The same protocol is used on terminal server 408.

The RDP application launcher 410 may launch an application that isaccessible by the user 402 (or by the client application that the user402 is running at a customer premises). RDP application launcher may runwindows type applications through Remote Desktop Protocol. Also RDPapplication launcher can redraw graphics between a client (e.g. an STB)and a server. The RDP application launcher 410 may also authenticate andidentify the user 402 based upon a user identification received from theset top box 404.

The RDP application launcher 410 may provide any number of networkservices to the user 402. For example, the RDP application launcher 410may provide access to an STB-independent network DVR that a customer 402has updated via a cell phone. Video images that the user 402 hascaptured via a cellular telephone and uploaded to the master account viaa cellular network may be accessible via an RDP application launched bythe RDP application launcher 410. The RDP application launcher 410 mayalso launch IPTV network services.

The system 400 includes a subsystem or a server system that includes aserver 412 that has associated application programs, such as iGateavailable from third parties, an associated EAI (Enterprise ApplicationInterface) service 414 and a database 416. The data base 416 stores thetelevision account (master account) and all relevant account informationabout the customers, including partner accounts, credit card, and otherinformation such as address, telephone and billing information. Theserver 412 is coupled to systems of each of the partner (partner'sservice), such as partner service 418. Thus, in one aspect of thepresent configurations, iGate may act as a central point forautomatically associating the master account with the partner accountsand for providing the contents from the various partner services 418.Within an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network, the iGate 412, inone aspect, creates a reverse-proxy that simulates the user, inaccordance with an SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) messagefrom an enterprise application interface (EAI) service 414. In general,SAML is an XML-based framework for communicating user authentication,entitlement, and attribute information. SAML allows entities to makeassociations regarding the identity, attributes, and entitlements of asubject (the entity may be a person) to other entities, such as apartner company or another enterprise application. The SAML message fromthe EAI service 414 includes a Primary Member ID and a Product ID, bothof which are retrieved from an iGate LDAP (Lightweight Directory AccessProtocol) database 416. The iGate 412 may obtain a preferences file fromthe iGate LDAP database 416 that can be used automatically to associatethe user 402 (or the client application) with the master account basedupon master account information obtained from the database 416.

The preferences file may also be used to establish an associationbetween the user 402 and a third-party that is selected from apredetermined set of partner's service 418. In response to the useridentification, the iGate 412 may automatically associate the masteraccount with the partner's service 418, in response to the request thatis received from the user 402 via the RDP application launcher 410. TheiGate 412 may establish a path or connection to the partner's service418, which may be a website having a URL. The iGate 412 may also providethe user 402 with access to the partner's service 418 via the masteraccount. The partner RDP may send a SOAP message that requests SAMLassertion and the iGate may send a SOAP message response with the SAMLassertion to the Partner RDP. In general, SOAP is a lightweight protocolfor exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment.It is an XML-based protocol that includes an envelope that defines aframework for describing what is in a message and how to process it, aset of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defineddatatypes, and a convention for presenting remote procedure calls andresponses. The iGate receives from the partner's RDP 418 an HTTPresponse with personalized page associated with the customer account.The iGate also receives EAI authentication from the RDP applicationlauncher and redirects the EAI authentication service. The iGate returnsthe content received from the partner RDP to the RDP applicationlauncher 410, which converts it into a display form and sends it on tothe customer device 404.

The partner's service 418 may be hosted outside of the IPTV network. Thepartner service's 418 may be, for example, a MyYahoo stock account, aMyYahoo weather account, a favorite Disney Online game, a cabletelevision news channel, and/or banks online bill payment website. Thepartner's service 418 may be accessible from outside the IPTV network,and may be accessible from machines other than the EAI service 414.

By providing the user 402 with access to the partner's service 418 viathe master account, the iGate 412 can also facilitate televisioncommerce by providing transactional billing and fulfillment between thepartner's service 418 and the user 402. The user 402 may engage in acommercial transaction associated with the partner's service 418.Although the system 400 is described using a particular architecture,the system may utilize any suitable system or architecture that performsthe functions and methods described herein.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method 500 according to oneaspect of the present disclosure. As shown in block 502, a masteraccount of a customer is stored in a database associated with theprovision of a television service. The master account may be anysuitable identifier, such as an IP address, STB identification number,SIP URI, etc. The method also stores in a database (Block 504) one ormore account numbers or identifiers of the customer (partner accounts)with various content providers, each such account being recognizable bya corresponding partner system that delivers content upon authenticationof the account. As shown in block 506, the method establishescommunication between the TV network and each of the partner systems ina manner that the network can obtain content from the partner systemsthat may be specific to a customer upon sending information relating tothe account of the customer with the partner. Upon receiving anidentifier from a customer device, partner accounts are automaticallycorrelated with the master account without requiring the customer toenter the partner accounts, as shown in block 508. The contents from thepartner systems is retrieved by authenticating or sending the partneraccounts to the corresponding partner systems (block 510), anddelivering to the customer premise over the television network (block512).

As described above, the system and method of the present disclosureprovides a backend auto-account association process that may betransparent to customers as it links customers' TV accounts (and viewingexperience) with their accounts in other relevant domains, such asbroadband, voice, wireless and can also pass along account information(which may be done by a one touch or click approval) to other partiesfor purpose of obtaining contents from such partners, includingtransactional billing. The auto-account association allows a TV customerto access on the television predefined broadband preferences (such asYahoo weather, sports, finance, etc.) by a single touch of a remotedevice without the need to enter the broadband account user name andpassword. The system and method automatically handles the accountassociation. Additionally, the system enables interactivity, such asplaying games against others online, programming a digital videorecorder via a telephone without specifying set top box identification,viewing bills, voice services and on-TV caller ID associated with thecustomers VoIP account. For example, the system may automaticallyassociate the master account with an account for a wireless service,such as a cellular telephone account and provide on a TV channel orthrough an icon on the TV selected information about the cellular phoneaccount (partner account), without requiring the customer to enter anyaccount relating to the cellular telephone, such as the telephonenumber. The information provided for display on the TV may includetelephone billing information, call log (received and called calls),voice information message, address book that may be stored in a networkdatabase, etc. Auto-account association also can leverage networkinfrastructure for seamless linking of broadband and voice accountsoutside of a television reference, so that a customer may check websettings on a wireless device without the need to log on orauthenticate. As noted earlier, auto-account association also can enablecustomers to order items through the television via a single click usingtheir television account information passed along to the relevantvendors. Additionally, auto account association can enable customers towager on television, and settle accounts through customer informationassociated with such accounts stored in a database. Also, it will beobvious that in addition to simplified user experience, the auto-accountassociation allows bundling of a variety of services over thetelevision, including broadband and voice services.

The methods and the computer programs described herein, includingaccount association and provision of content over a television networkmay be implemented by a computer system, such as an exemplary systemshown in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system 600 within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein. In some embodiments, the machineoperates as a standalone device. In some embodiments, the machine may beconnected (e.g., using a network) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient user machine in server-client user network environment, or as apeer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a mobile device, apalmtop computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a personaldigital assistant, a communications device, a wireless telephone, aland-line telephone, a control system, a camera, a scanner, a facsimilemachine, a printer, a pager, a personal trusted device, a web appliance,a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executinga set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions tobe taken by that machine. It will be understood that a device of thepresent invention includes broadly any electronic device that providesvoice, video or data communication. Further, while a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 600 may include a processor 602 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), amain memory 604 and a static memory 606, which communicate with eachother via a bus 608. The computer system 600 may further include a videodisplay unit 650 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, asolid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system600 may include an input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 614 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 616, a signal generationdevice 618 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interfacedevice 620.

The disk drive unit 616 may include a machine-readable medium 622 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 624)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein, including those methods illustrated in herein above. Theinstructions 624 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 604, the static memory 606, and/or within theprocessor 602 during execution thereof by the computer system 600. Themain memory 604 and the processor 602 also may constitutemachine-readable media. Dedicated hardware implementations including,but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits,programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise beconstructed to implement the methods described herein. Applications thatmay include the apparatus and systems of various embodiments broadlyinclude a variety of electronic and computer systems. Some embodimentsimplement functions in two or more specific interconnected hardwaremodules or devices with related control and data signals communicatedbetween and through the modules, or as portions of anapplication-specific integrated circuit. Thus, the example system isapplicable to software, firmware, and hardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

The present invention contemplates a machine readable medium containinginstructions 624, or that which receives and executes instructions 624from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a networkenvironment 626 can send or receive voice, video or data, and tocommunicate over the network 626 using the instructions 624. Theinstructions 624 may further be transmitted or received over a network626 via the network interface device medium 622 is shown in an exampleembodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium”should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium thatis capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions forexecution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any oneor more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term“machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but notbe limited to: solid-state memories such as a memory card or otherpackage that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile) memories,random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile) memories;magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape; and carrierwave signals such as a signal embodying computer instructions in atransmission medium; and/or a digital file attachment to e-mail or otherself-contained information archive or set of archives is considered adistribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium.Accordingly, the invention is considered to include any one or more of amachine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listed herein andincluding art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which thesoftware implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the invention is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodicallysuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are merely representational andmay not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A system comprising: a server having access to aremote desktop application; and a memory that stores executableinstructions that, when executed by the server, facilitate performanceof operations, comprising: launching the remote desktop application inresponse to detecting a user request to access web content provided by aservice partner, wherein the remote desktop application accesses firstand second user account information, wherein the first user accountinformation is associated with a media services account for providing amedia service to a user over a network, and wherein the second useraccount information is associated with a service partner account forproviding a web content service to the user by the service partner, andwherein the remote desktop application associates the service partneraccount with the media services account to invoke the web contentservice over the network, wherein the user request does not provide thesecond user account information.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein themedia service comprises a television service.
 23. The system of claim21, wherein the operations further comprise authenticating the servicepartner account based on the second user account information.
 24. Thesystem of claim 21, wherein the detecting of the user request to accessthe web content is based on a user selection of a set top box channel,and wherein the user request indicates the selected set top box channel.25. The system of claim 24, wherein the operations further comprisereceiving an authentication of the media services account from the settop box prior to associating the media services account with the servicepartner account.
 26. The system of claim 24, wherein the launching ofthe remote desktop application comprises mapping the set top box channelto a remote desktop universal resource locator.
 27. The system of claim21, wherein the web content includes an interactive web page and whereinthe operation further comprise enabling the user to interact withinteractive web content of the web content.
 28. The system of claim 21,wherein the second user account information identifies a plurality ofpartner accounts the user has established with a plurality of servicepartners for providing web content.
 29. The system of claim 28, whereineach of the plurality of partner accounts is associated with arespective set top box channel.
 30. A machine-readable storage medium,comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor,facilitate performance of operations, comprising: launching a remotedesktop application in response to detecting a user request to accessweb content provided by a service partner, wherein the remote desktopapplication accesses first and second user account information, whereinthe first user account information is associated with a media servicesaccount for providing a media service to a user over a network, andwherein the second user account information is associated with a servicepartner account for providing a web content service to the user by theservice partner, and wherein the remote desktop application associatesthe service partner account with the media services account to invokethe web content service over the network, wherein the user request doesnot indicate the service partner account.
 31. The machine-readablestorage medium of claim 30, wherein the web content service generatesredrawn web content graphics based on the web content, and wherein theweb content service provides the redrawn web content graphics to a settop box associated with the user over the network.
 32. Themachine-readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein the media servicecomprises a television service.
 33. The machine-readable storage mediumof claim 30, wherein the operations further comprise authenticating theservice partner account based on the second user account information.34. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein thedetecting of the user request to access the web content is based on auser selection of a set top box channel, and wherein the user requestindicates the selected set top box channel.
 35. The machine-readablestorage medium of claim 34, wherein the operations further comprisereceiving an authentication of the media services account from the settop box prior to associating the media services account with the servicepartner account.
 36. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 34,wherein the launching of the remote desktop application comprisesmapping the set top box channel to a remote desktop universal resourcelocator.
 37. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 30, whereinthe web content includes an interactive web page and wherein theoperation further comprise enabling the user to interact withinteractive web content of the web content.
 38. The machine-readablestorage medium of claim 30, wherein the second user account informationidentifies a plurality of partner accounts the user has established witha plurality of service partners for providing web content, and whereineach of the plurality of partner accounts is associated with arespective set top box channel.
 39. A method comprising: detecting, by asystem including a processor, a user request to access web contentprovided by a service partner; and launching, by the system, a remotedesktop application in response to the detecting of the user request,wherein the remote desktop application accesses first and second useraccount information, wherein the first user account information isassociated with a media services account for providing a media serviceto a user over a network, and wherein the second user accountinformation is associated with a service partner account for providing aweb content service to the user by the service partner, and wherein theremote desktop application associates the service partner account withthe media services account to invoke the web content service over thenetwork, wherein the user request does not indicate the service partneraccount.
 40. The method of claim 39, wherein the web content servicegenerates redrawn web content graphics based on the web content, andwherein the web content service provides the redrawn web contentgraphics to a set top box associated with the user over the network.